Suzaku Ibun: Camp Remains (Or, "My Bookish Family")

And we're back, with a whole mess of mysterious plays!

The “Camp Remains” location comes with a few different possible dialog options, depending on how many times you visit them. I've translated all of them (or at least all the versions with Chichiri in your party).

I don't want to spoil the surprise, but suffice to say, something happens on the fourth visit that is a major deviation from the original FY, and sets up one of the big decisions you get to make in the final arc of the story. 

It’s also weird as hell. And only kind of makes sense, which is to say, it doesn't make sense at all.  Aaaand I was feeling extra snarky when I translated it, so you’ll get a little of my running commentary throughout. Have fun, and as always, feel free to remark on this STARTLING TURN OF EVENTS in the comments below! ^^

CAMP REMAINS

[Dialog options]

• Visiting the first time
• Visiting a second, third, or fifth+ times
• Visiting a fourth time

Visiting the first time

==Scene: Desert==

You: Is that...? You can see traces of a bonfire.

Mitsukake: ...Somebody must have spent the night here.

Tasuki: In the middle of nowhere? How come?

Nuriko: I’m sure it was a pair of star-crossed lovers who ran away to elope and spent the night here.

You: What...?

=Sparkly background=

Nuriko: (imitating a woman) I’m so sorry. You’ve gone through so much for me.

Nuriko, you’re really getting into this...

Nuriko: (imitating a man) I don’t care. If it means that we can be together, then I’ll keep running until we reach the radiant sun itself.

You: Huh...? Um... Why are you staring at me like that...?

Nuriko: Now... let us seal our vows with a kiss...

You: M-me~!?

Nuriko: Go with it! Just go with it!

You: That's the last thing I wanna do!

Tamahome & Tasuki: HOLD IT!

Tamahome & Tasuki: No way are we gonna let ya do that!

Chiriko: ...I-I won’t let you either.

Chichiri: Nuriko, this is in poor taste no da. These guys are determined to stop you no da!

Nuriko: No way! Seriously!?

Tamahome & Tasuki: SERIOUSLY!

Nuriko: C... c’mooon, you two. Can’t you take a joke?

You: ...You guys are...scary.

Mitsukake: ...Well, I’m sure they had their reasons for staying here.

Mitsukake: As for us, I don’t think we need to spend the night here.

You: You’re right.

You: Okay gang, away we go again!

=>Go to world map

New Location: Daijiin Temple (大寺院) (1)

Walkthrough Note: I'm not entirely sure what triggers this location opening up. Seems to be a little different every time I do it. Just go to enough locations and it'll appear at some point.

Visiting a second, third, or fifth+ times

The remains from that camp again...

They’re here every time we pass through.

Visiting a fourth time

You: Huh...? The camp remains are gone...

???: Excuse me...

You: Yes...?

Man: Do you know of a doctor who lives in the area?

You: ...Why, is somebody sick?

Man: My son is in bad shape...

Boy: *cough* *cough*

Woman: Hang on. If you can just hang on for a little longer, we’ll find a doctor to take a look at you.

You: Um... Mitsukake...

Mitsukake: Right, of course.

Mitsukake: If it’s all right with you, I could take a look at him.

Man: You’re...

You: He’s a doctor. It’ll be all right. He’s got an incredible ability, so he’ll heal your son in no time flat.

Mitsukake: No, my healing powers are a last resort. Usually I can treat an illness using my own abilities.

Mitsukake: I can cure him with a combination of my medicine and his willpower.

Mitsukake: Take this powder with water. You should feel much better after that.

Boy: Okay...

Boy: It’s bitter.

Mitsukake: Drink up. Very good.

Mitsukake: You should spend the evening getting plenty of rest.

Man: Th-thank you very much! How can I repay you...?

Mitsukake: You don’t need to worry about that. However, I do want to keep an eye on the boy overnight, just in case...

Man: Yes, by all means!

Mitsukake: Is that all right, [Your Name]?

You: Of course.

Mitsukake: Sorry. I know this is selfish of me.

You: Not at all. I think it’s very admirable.

You: If we can’t help the people right in front of us, we sure won’t be able to protect a whole country.

Man: This way, please.

Woman: It’s a little cramped, but you’re welcome to stay as long as you’d like.

You: Thank you very much.

Man: We’ve been on the road for a long time, so we can’t offer much in the way of hospitality. I’m sorry about that.

You: N-no, it’s totally fine!

You: We were trying to figure out where we were going to spend the night anyway.

You: All we need is a roof over our heads and we’re happy.

You: But... why’s the whole family traveling?

Man: ...We don’t have a place to call home.

Man: Our family was part of a small country that was destroyed a long time ago.

Man: Since then, we’ve been a nomadic peoples, wandering from nation to nation.

You: ...Oh... I see.

Man: We’re poor and can’t offer you much in the way of decent food.

Man: To repay you for helping my son, I’d like to tell you a legend passed down among our people.

You: You would? Please, I’d love to hear it.

Man: Then why don’t I tell you the story of how, when our country collapsed, a girl from another world came to us?

You: Huh...?

A girl... from another world...

The man slowly began to tell us the story. About his country’s collapse.

=Fuzzy, black box=

Man: There was a girl who was destined to summon Suzaku. She fell in love with a boy from our country. (2)

Man: The priestess gave in to temptation.

Man: The priestess was from another world. She knew that she wasn’t supposed to develop ties to the people of this world.

Man: But in the end, she was unable to control her emotions...

Man: She and her beloved gave themselves entirely to one another.

Man: As soon as the two were united, she was no longer qualified to be the priestess, and so she was sent back to her own world.

Man: Once our tiny nation lost its priestess, other nations invaded and snatched up our territory.

Man: It was too one-sided to call it a war, and far too brutal to call it a battle.

Man: Our nation was consumed by the fires of war, and reduced to ashes—

Man: In the end, we were destroyed completely.

Man: No one knows what happened to the girl during all this, but...

Man: It is said that the young man remembered her for as long as he lived.

Man: And the name of the girl, cast from our world because of love, was...

…

Man: That’s the end of the story.

Mitsukake: An exiled priestess, hm...? Very interesting...

Tamahome: ...Hey, what’s wrong? You look kinda pale.

You: Oh... no... it’s nothing.

That girl had the same name as my grandma—

But I’m sure it’s a coincidence...

You: Um... do you know if there’s an image of that priestess remaining anywhere?

Man: I have a portrait of her…

[Just carryin' around a portrait of the lady who thought it was more important to get laid than to save an entire nation. Like ya do.]

Then he showed me an old, faded painting.

The woman in the portrait was the spitting image of my mom.

So then... she really was...

You: My... grandma...?

==Scene: Desert, Night==

...

...I stepped outside because I couldn’t sleep.

My mom is the daughter of a man from this world...

If that’s true, then that means I’m partly from this world, too...

You: …I don’t know what to think anymore.

???: I don’t really understand it either...

You: That voice... Big Brother?

=Big Brother appears on screen=

Big Brother: You’ve been through some rough stuff, [Your Name].

You: Its all right. The others have been supporting me, so...

Big Brother: ...Right.

You: Hey... Big Brother. What’s wrong?

You: You don’t sound very chipper...

Big Brother: Yeah... guess I’m not.

You: Something about the Universe of the Four Gods?

Big Brother: Yeah...

Big Brother: ...Since the last time we talked, I did a bunch of research, too.

Big Brother: I looked into who else had the Universe of the Four Gods in their possession before we did.

Big Brother: For some reason, it looks like our family lineage has something to do with it.

You: Our... family?

Big Brother: Mom confirmed it, too.

Big Brother: She was shocked when I told her I knew about the Universe of the Four Gods.

Big Brother: Grandma used to tell her about it a long time ago. Though I get the feeling Mom thought it was nothing but a fairy tale.

[“Did I ever tell you about the time I doomed a nation because I couldn’t keep it in my pants?”  "Yeah, Mom, like a hundred times...”]

Big Brother: Well, I put the rest of the pieces together on my own.

Big Brother: It looks like the Universe of the Four Gods book that you found was the original translation. In other words, it’s a copy.

Big Brother: Our grandma spent some time in China during the war. So I’m pretty sure she used the original version to travel to the book-world.

Big Brother: And then, after she abandoned her duties as priestess, she was sent back to her world—to China.

Big Brother: By then, Grandma was already pregnant with our mom.

Big Brother: And after the war, they came back to Japan, our mom grew up, married our dad, and you and I were born.

[...So I guess we’re just gonna cheerfully gloss over the part about how your grandma CAUSED THE COLLAPSE OF AN ENTIRE NATION, aren’t we? -_-;]

Big Brother: That’s the impression that I get.

—My brother’s story matched up perfectly with the priestess legend I’d just heard.

So then... that confirms it.

Big Brother: In other words, the ink blood of the people from the book-world runs through our veins.

You: The people from the book...

Hearing that was just as big a shock the second time around.

I was speechless.

Big Brother: But that means… it’s possible, I guess.

Big Brother: That you... could live in that world forever.

You: How could I...?

Big Brother: Let’s assume that the priestess has to go back home because she’s originally from a different world.

Big Brother: But you have blood ties with the people there, so... there’s no reason you’d have to leave.

I could stay here forever. I could stay with the others... and with that person... forever...

But then...

You: Then I’d never be able to see you or the rest of my family and friends again, right?

Big Brother: ...Probably, yeah.

You: No... that’d be terrible...

My family’s always been there with me...

Big Brother: …If you stayed there, you could be with the person who's so important to you.

You: You knew?

Big Brother: I’ve been reading along, so yeah.

You: Mm... They're really important to me.

Big Brother: I know... they are, huh.

You: ...Yeah.

If I choose one, I’ll lose the other.

If felt like my chest was caught in a vice.

What will I do? What should I do...?

Big Brother: It’s okay, [Your Name].

Big Brother: Every story has to end someday.

You: Mm...

Big Brother: Your story in that world is bound to come to an end one day.

Big Brother: When it does, you’ll have my full support in whatever you decide to do.

What to gain and what to lose. Both were too important to me. I couldn’t possibly choose.

I don’t know what I’m supposed to do...

Big Brother: As long as you choose the ending that makes you happiest, then I’ll definitely be cheering you on.

Tears sprang unbidden to my eyes, clouding my vision.

Big Brother: So... you’d better survive this.

I couldn’t say anything. All I could do was give a little nod.

My brother was such a nice guy. I had only just realized it.

Big Brother: ...C’mon, don’t cry. You’re the Priestess of Suzaku.

You: ...Mm!!

That’s right… I’m the Priestess of Suzaku.

Big Brother: Don’t forget: There are people over here who think you’re way more important than anything that happens in that world.

You: Mm...

You: That was the one thing I never forgot.

Big Brother: Right...

Big Brother: Well, you’re my little sister. You’ll pull it off somehow.

You: ...Your little sister... has kinda… been feeling like she won’t pull it off.

Big Brother: Hey now, none of that.

You: I have been thinking that, though.

…It kinda feels like I’m back in my own bedroom, chatting with my brother.

Big Brother: ...Later. I’m gonna go back to researching the Universe of the Four Gods.

Big Brother: Keep your chin up.

You: ...You too, Big Brother…

…

I couldn’t hear my brother’s voice anymore.

I hadn’t heard his voice in so long. It made me feel really nostalgic...

Like the way it feels when you think about fond memories from a long time ago...

==Scene: Desert, Daytime==

You: Mmm~! What a nice morning!

Tamahome: ...Hey, did you go outside last night?

You: Huh... Y-you noticed?!

Tamahome: Man... you’re so easy to read.

Tamahome: Did something happen?

You: N-no way. Nothing at all!

Nuriko: Tama, you IDIOT!

—!!

Tamahome: O-owww~! What the hell was that for, Nuriko!?

Nuriko: It’s one of those girl things! Once in a while there are times where a girl just wants to be alone!

Nuriko: Right?

You: Y...yeah.

Tamahome... looked like he was in pain...

Chichiri: If something’s bothering you, you can come to me for advice anytime no da. ♪

Mitsukake: That’s right. You have a tendency to push yourself too hard.

Chiriko: I agree. It’s a Celestial Warrior’s job to support his priestess.

Chiriko: I’d be upset if you didn’t put me to full use.

You: ...Thanks, you guys.

You: But I’m fine. ...For now.

Right. For now, the important thing is to summon Suzaku.

Until I do, I’ll keep the rest of it locked away in my heart.

It’s a problem that I’ll have to face eventually, whether I want to or not.

=>Go to world map

----------

Translation Notes:

(1) Daijiin Temple (大寺院) - The kanji just reads “Daijiin,” which means “Large Temple.” So calling it “Daijiin Temple” is redundant. However, when you actually get to the temple, everyone calls it “Daijiin,” and it seems totally silly to be like, “This is the central temple in Sairou. It's called Large Temple.” So I opted to keep the original name and tag “temple” on so you’d know what it was. (You may remember that I did the same thing with the Houzoku Tribe.) Anyway, just wanted to let you know.

(2) “There was a girl who was destined to summon Suzaku” - No, you guys, I didn’t mistranslate. That’s what it says. And yeah, it doesn’t make sense to me, either. How can two different nations summon Suzaku? Are we to assume that Konan is a relatively young nation, built on the bones of an older, ruined one? Are these people connected to Nakago's tribe in any way, or are these two separate nomadic peoples? Did the game's writers even think that hard about it? Somebody, please write this ‘fic and fansplain it for me.